Thursday, November 6, 2014

Happy Dances! WIPocalypse Check-In: November

This month, I got quite a bit done, which surprised me because it was such a busy month at work. But I managed to get my usual amount of stitching time in...I just got less sleep! :D

I had two finishes, one of which I posted about two weeks ago, but I'll post a picture of it again:

This is "Napping Kitten" by Dimensions, and will be a Christmas gift for my sister. She will be moving into her own place soon (recently graduated from college), so I figured I would give her a decoration for her new apartment!
I am planning to frame it myself, and am debating whether to use a self-stick mounting board or to tack and sew it: does anyone have any good/bad experiences with self-stick mounting boards? I've never used one but it seems so much easier, there must be some sort of catch lol!

The other finish is the third in a set of four ornaments by Kooler Design Studio I am making for my parents:

And I just started the fourth and final ornament I will be making them for this Christmas:

I worked on one other gift, a stocking for my bf, which I realized I never took a progress pic of last month! So this is the progress over the past two months:

Before:

After:
The cross-stitching is done, I just have to finish the backstitching and French knots! So I should definitely have all of these presents stitched in time for Christmas: the trick will be getting them finish-finished before then!

I also worked (a little) on some non-gift stitching.

"Aurora Cabin" progress:

Finally got some better lighting for a pic of this that's true to color!

"Beauty and the Beast Falling In Love":

This month's question is: what are your favorite and least favorite materials to use in stitching?

I don't feel like I've tried enough different types of materials to really give a definitive answer...up until this year, I stitched all my cross stitch projects on Aida (my favorite is 18 count) with DMC, which will probably always be my go-to cotton floss because I've always had good results with it and it is so widely available (and fairly inexpensive where I live, at 39 cents a skein.) This year, I've tried stitching on linen, which I really enjoy (although it's easier in the daylight than at night!), and once I finish the gifts I'm currently working on, I have a couple patterns almost kitted up that call for some silks and specialty threads, so I'll get to try some new things, which I am looking forward to!